


Dust to Dust

by amaronith, kitausuret



Category: Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Venom (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Andi is a Little Shit, Certified Asshole Lee Price, Enemies to Reluctant Allies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Everyone is Bisexual, Multi, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Post-Secret Empire, Post-Venomverse, Redemption Arc That Actually Sticks, Slow Burn, Venom is a Good Noodle, cherry picking canon after that point, everyone is protective, more tags and character tags to come, nothing after Venomverse happened, there are gonna be lots of cameos from lots of characters in spider-man and venom comics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-05-24 01:03:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14944739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaronith/pseuds/amaronith, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitausuret/pseuds/kitausuret
Summary: In the aftermath of Venomverse, Eddie Brock's life is in shambles, and the only good thing he finds worth living for is Venom. But his other is very ill, and in re-bonding with it, he made himself a fugitive and lost all his allies.But Venom didn't. And Flash Thompson, though mourning the loss of his own bond with the symbiote, might be the one person willing to take a chance on Eddie and help him and Venom both. Flash knows the value of a second (or third, or tenth) chance, and comes to realize that maybe there's still hope for Eddie Brock, yet.Maybe there's still hope for all of them.





	1. A Long Night

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: After a long long time struggling to get this first chapter done, I've decided to really get the ball rolling with this fic. I'll fully admit that this is a bit of spite-writing I started in response to Venom Inc. and all the resulting mess that's been created. I try to stick to canon as best I can up until Venomverse, but feel free to drop me any comments or questions about my characterizations! I love all these characters to death and I hope to really do them some justice here. 
> 
> Special, huge thanks to Amaronith, listed as a co-creator here, and also to my friend William, who has such an incredible grasp on Eddie Brock's character and was extremely helpful in forming my own characterization of him. To everyone who's given me feedback and encouragement, this is for you! 
> 
> Historian's note: The following takes place roughly around Venomverse #2.

__**Venomverse (Earth-TRN655)  
Our Lady of Saints Church  
New York City, NY**

 

The symbiote never felt closer to its own mortality than it did in this place.

The Poisons were unlike any enemy they’d faced before. They existed as parasites in the truest sense of the word, worse than the Brood, claiming to be symbiotic but being worse than a mockery of everything a Klyntar was supposed to stand for. This reminded it horribly of the world it had been trapped on for years, maybe decades, maybe  _centuries_ , surrounded by corrupted brethren sucking their hosts dry, feeding and discarding at leisure--

Poisons bonded with Klyntar and then consumed the host. There would be nothing left. Venom had seen Eddie consumed before - by disease, by his own self-defeating attitude, by loss and grief and losing  _himself_ in the bond. It would not fail its host twice. It would keep them safe until they could return home. No matter what life had put the symbiote through as of late, since re-entering into a partnership with its old host, it had vowed to not only rectify its sins past but help Eddie, too.

Venom was sick and hurt and scared, but at least with Eddie, it felt… safe. And it needed to do this. It had needed to for a long time. They would survive, and then, they would move forward.

Eddie Brock slept, but only because Venom had made him. Its host had been a bundle of nerves since getting dragged into this hellscape. Even so, the symbiote remained awake, ever-watchful, senses primed should any Poisons approach. It could see through their deceptions, even if Eddie couldn’t.

What had happened earlier that day; the Poison attack on the Venoms’ compound; seeing another universe’s Flash Thompson get smashed into a wall… It had sent a streak of panic through the symbiote. Venom  _knew_ that hadn’t been the Flash whom had been its partner. It and Eddie were alone in this place, except for…

Through the darkness, through the senses of its host, the symbiote peered over at Andrea Benton. Mania. Andi was probably sleeping; she’d been here even longer. At the moment, her head rested on the shoulder of a young man, Robbie Reyes. Like them, the girl and her symbiote had been recruited into this war. Just a  _child_. Eddie didn’t understand it though, the bond they’d had, when Venom had been with Flash. The thought sent a strange pang of longing through it, though it tried to hide the invading feeling from Eddie. They couldn’t afford distraction at this point.

Careful not to wake its sleeping host, Venom stepped over to where she had passed out against a pew. “Andrea,” it whispered, as if afraid to speak any louder.

“Wha..” After a second, she jolted awake, hand tightening around the wrench she’d fallen asleep holding. “Eddie Brock? What the hell do you-”

Venom shook its head. “Eddie sleeps.”

“...Venom?”

He nodded.

For a long moment, she stayed silent. Then, Mania unwrapped from the girl’s face, and the symbiote saw now the the dark circles under her eyes and a deep cut across her nose that had begun to heal. Her eyes were red from crying, and after a moment’s hesitation, she flung herself at the bonded pair, burying her face in their broad chest. Andi shook as she cried, and the symbiote patted her back in the way it’d sometimes known Flash would.

“I-I saw him  _die_ , Venom; it was like…”

Her voice trailed off in another sob and the symbiote clutched her tighter. This girl… she was so  _strong_ , but she was so  _young_. She had witnessed her father die in such a violent manner, and then to see a man who looked so much like her mentor perish?

“I know, I know it wasn’t him. M-mania tried to keep me calm so we could escape, but then the shock just came and hit me a-and nobody here  _knows_ what he means…”

Eventually, she peeled herself away from them, and settled back against the remains of a shattered wall. A tendril snuck up to brush away a stray tear as she heaved a sigh. Venom just settled back into a crouch, watching her.

“Venom… what are you doing? Why are you back with Eddie Brock?” Andi pulled her knees up to her chest. “I thought you hated him. I thought Flash was your partner. I thought you  _liked_ being a hero.”

“ _Was_ a hero.” Venom cast its gaze downwards. “Don’t know what I am now.”

She frowned. “What happened?”

“Was weak. Bonded with a man to save his life. Made me hurt people; tried to re-corrupt me. Broke free, but...” It touched the white spider symbol on their chest. It matched hers, now, rather than the extended spider-leg design it’d had while bonded with Flash. “Didn’t know where Flash was. Spider-Man said we could be together again; was a trick.” Their clawed hand clenched into a fist. “Then Eddie… helped escape. Wanted to bond. Said we belonged together; said he needed me.”

“That so?” When the symbiote nodded, she gave a soft  _hmm_. “What about Flash? You don’t think he needs you?”

“Wouldn’t want me back. Don’t want-”

“Bullshit.”

Venom looked up sharply.

“You know what I’m going through, Venom?” The symbiotic suit rolled back away from her chest enough to reveal the star-shaped scar on it. “Hellmark. Still there. I  _know_ you know what it feels like. Mania and I; we struggle with it every day.”

“I - we never-”

“Venom, stop. I know; Flash has explained to me that you were just trying to protect yourself, and him. But that’s not my point.” Mania covered its host once again, and Andi sighed. “My point is, if you don’t think Flash would take you back after a little slip-up? Something’s happened to you, and you owe it to yourself and to Flash to try and get some kind of closure with him.” She paused. “You probably owe it to Brock, too. I don’t know why you’re with him, but I’m sure you have your reasons. You don’t… have to try and explain it right now.”

She rocked forward and placed her hands on their broad shoulders. Her hazel eyes seemed older than they should at seventeen years of age. It felt her concern mirrored in Mania, though the clone remained in the background.

“I need you to promise me something. Can you do that?”

Venom paused. It didn’t know if that was possible. The symbiote had made so many promises, and broken almost all of them in one way or another. It had promised Eddie, once upon a time, never to hurt or betray him, and had done both. It had promised Flash, some years later, that they would never be apart; that they would never have to fear anything again as long as they were together. Lies. Manipulations of a desperate and corrupted symbiote.

How it had burned to have the same done to the symbiote by Lee Price.

It lifted a hand to cover her smaller one over the identical white patch. “Can try.”

“Okay,” she said, lips quirking in a wry smile. “That’s all I can ask. If-” Andi stopped and closed her eyes. “ _When_ we get out of here, you need to go see Flash. I’ll… ugh, I  _guess_ I’ll try to talk to Brock in the morning. But that’s another thing.” The look she gave the symbiote reminded Venom of the memories Eddie had of May Parker scolding him at the F.E.A.S.T. Center. “I’m glad you came to me, but you can’t cart your host around like that, no matter what we all think of him.”

“Not a bad person. But doesn’t understand.”

“Then keep trying. Flash didn’t understand you at first. But if Eddie’s good enough to rebond with, you need to be honest with him.”

Venom started to leave, but her hand tightened around their shoulder.

“Please don’t go. Venom, you’re the only one I know around here.”

It hesitated. Flash had cared very, very deeply for this girl; had become her godfather, even. To abandon her in this time of need would dishonor its former host’s memory. But if it stayed with her, Eddie would know what it had done. She was but a child, though. Eddie would understand, wouldn’t he? Or would he accuse Venom of clinging to a past host?

But they were fighting for their  _lives_ here. Andi remained optimistic - Flash had taught her that - but they had seen how Poisons made carcasses out of both hosts and Klyntar alike.

Flash would want them to protect her. Eddie would understand.

Andi slipped back over to where Robbie slept, tucking herself back against his side, and as if by instinct, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. She gestured with her head to Venom, and cautiously, it came to sit beside her. Only minutes later, it heard her breathing slow and felt only her symbiote’s conscious presence.

Soon, Venom relaxed as well, slipping into Eddie’s thoughts and keeping just half a mind on the world outside.

\-----

When Eddie Brock stirred awake in the dark of the early morning, it was with the voice of his symbiote in his mind. It seemed almost sheepish, except that was a word he would have never used to describe his other.

_“Had to move. Don’t be mad.”_

The grogginess felt like it had been punched out of him. Eddie jolted awake, realizing that he was indeed on the other side of the destroyed sanctuary, leaned up against the sleeping forms of Mania and the Venomized Ghost Rider. He immediately put distance between himself and them.  _You_ moved  _me?!_

_“Andrea is a child, Eddie. Only seventeen. Have to protect her.”_

_Why didn’t I wake up when you moved me?_

They resulting silence made him uneasy. He pressed again. He saw the way the rest of them looked at him. Who was he, in their worlds? Eddie knew that he had countless sins in his past - and many of them, he couldn’t justify or blame on the symbiote. The one who looked like Mary Jane Watson; she’d said that he brought out the  _worst_ in his symbiote, no matter what world he came from. He’d pushed the words aside, given that just a few minutes later they’d been ambushed by a Poisoned Hulk and lost three of their number. Now, though, they nagged at him.

He didn’t care what they thought. He didn’t care what anyone thought. He didn’t want to be here and only fought alongside them because Strange was his ticket home and he wasn’t about to die in this shithole of a universe.

But he thought he’d done at least  _some_ good in his life, right? He’d tried to do the right thing at least occasionally, hadn’t he?

After what seemed like forever, the symbiote spoke:  _“You needed sleep. I needed to see Andrea.”_

_I don’t understand. Why? Who is she? Why are you so drawn to her? Why would you - why would you just move me without-_

_“Flash died! Saw him die! Saw him get crushed against a wall and couldn’t even be sad, had to live and survive and all alone-”_

It wailed loud enough in his mind that he winced. Eddie pressed a palm to his forehead.  _Shh, dear, I’m sorry. I’m not mad._ He forced calm. This world; it stressed the hell out of them. The more he had to lash out, the more he felt the symbiote feed on his anger. On one hand, it made them strong, which they needed to survive, but at what cost? He took a deep breath and felt his companion settle. He hated that there was still this divide between them. It was almost like the bond wasn’t quite complete. His other’s distress only drove that suspicion home for him, but he reasoned this was neither the time nor place to address such concerns.

He looked over at Mania, who had begun to stir. He felt an inkling of affection and worry from his partner, different from when they had worked with Lunella Lafayette a couple weeks back. This felt... personal. And though he had no desire to let the symbiote reminisce on things past, Eddie closed his eyes.

_All right. Tell me about Mania._

And, as best it could, his other did. It told him how the symbiote was the re-absorbed clone they’d encountered years ago; the one that had been bonded to Patricia Robertson. To save the girl’s life moments after her father had died in her arms, Flash had sent out a part of the symbiote to protect her from a poison gas attack.

Jack O’Lantern. The same asshole they’d been pursuing just moments before Strange had dragged them here. No wonder his other had been so insistent on chasing the broken-faced supervillain...

That part had been the clone, with a Hellmark attached to it. The clone had bonded with Andrea Benton, attracted to her grief and anger, and Flash had helped her learn to work with the symbiote. She had been his student at West Philly, and then became his protege as Mania. Together, they took down the crime boss Lord Ogre, the man who had hired Jack O’Lantern, but also uncovered Mania’s Hellmark abilities.

Flash had continued to work with her for months, until he was recruited to join the so-called Guardians of the Galaxy. While absent, though, the Hellmark had moved from the symbiote to the host, bringing out a savagery in the girl that frightened both her and Mania. At the same time, light years away, the symbiote, too, became affected by the part of it that was still possessed. It became recorrupted, and only after standing trial on Klyntar did the truth come to light.

Flash, with the help of his ragtag Space Knight crew, returned to Earth and were able to save both the girl and her symbiote. The Hellmark tempered but not gone, Flash had stayed with Andi, officially becoming her godfather and continuing to train and guide her.

In the absence of her father, he had become to closest thing she now had to one.

Eddie looked up now, as if seeing her differently. They were indeed from the same world. Since Mania was just a modified bit of his own symbiote, they had both been dragged here. But she was only seventeen. She shouldn’t even  _have_ a symbiote. She should have been worrying about homework and friends and shitty rock bands and maybe boys (or girls, Venom informed him). She certainly shouldn’t be dragged across all of existence to fight in a damn war.

He was going to have  _words_ with Strange, and then he was going to have words with Thompson. The latter was reason enough to want to get out of here alive.

_“Don’t hurt Flash!”_

Eddie sighed and rubbed his forehead.  _This is going to be difficult for us, isn’t it?_

After a couple minutes, she stirred, and he looked away. Some of their allies were outside the cathedral, keeping watch, while others worked in a makeshift shop on what Rocket had promised would be their  _doomsday weapon_ against the Poisons. He would be taking watch with Logan (who constantly insisted on  _not_ being called “Wolverine” - made one wonder just what world he came from) later on. So he had some time yet. But what was he to say to her?

“Hey.”

He startled when she spoke, sounding much more tired than any teenager should. Mania still covered her face, but Andi slowly moved away from the Ghost Rider and settled about a foot closer to Eddie. He had Venom away from his face; it wasn’t as if he had a secret identity to protect here.

“You probably figured out we’re from the same universe, huh?”

He got the distinct impression that, beneath the mask, she glared at him. Eddie rested his head against the back wall and took a breath - asphalt and brick, singed fabric from the altar filled his senses. Certainly  _smelled_ like a warzone. “Yeah. Me and your symbiote; we got history, kid. But I don’t know you, aside from what my other has told me.”

“Your ‘other’?” Andi snorted. “What, like significant oth-”

“The  _symbiote_.”

“You may as well just call him ‘Venom’.”

“That’s not the symbiote’s name; that’s the name we have together. You’re Mania. And I’m Venom.”  
  
“Yeah? Well, for the sake of the fact that we’re a zillion universes from home, maybe I’ll just call you ‘Eddie’. ‘Edward’. ‘Ed-boy’-”

“Please don’t.”

Silence stretched for a minute, the gravity of their situation sinking in despite Andi’s seeming attempt at lightening the mood. “Coach told me about you a little bit. Mostly about when you were Toxin, that you tried to kill him-”

“That was  _Toxin_ , and our target was never Thompson.”

“-yeah, whatever. Would you can it for a second? But also that you worked with him to save a school.  _My_ school. West Philly. From those symbiote-slayer things.”

He stared at her, sitting up. “He  _told_ you about that? You were there?”

A memory flashed over his subconscious - a girl with a dozen or so classmates, Thompson instructing them to get back, lock the door, and the two (four?) of them setting their differences aside momentarily to face a common foe-

It seemed like that had been decades ago. After facing Carnage and losing Toxin, nothing seemed like it could compare. Except for this.

“My point is,” Andi went on, “I know what everyone else thinks of you. I don't care. They don't know you. There's probably some universe where my demon took over and killed Coach and Venom, or a place where you, I don't know, go into battle royale wearing Spider-Man's suit around your neck like a cape.”

Eddie quirked an eyebrow, curious just where  _that_ idea had come from.

“...But we're not. We’re fighting for our lives and we only have each other. I don't know you, but I know Venom, and I don't think he'd rebond with someone without a good reason.”

He sent a questioning notion at the symbiote, who remained a mostly-silent presence within him. It shivered over his skin. Eddie sighed. “What’s your point, kid?”

“My  _point_ is that I’m choosing to trust you. Coach said that you were the most dangerous enemy he ever faced… but that when it came down to it, you’d do the right thing. And none of us are getting out of here alive unless we work together.”

_Smart kid._

_“Had a good mentor.”_

Eddie didn’t like the fondness with which his other said the words. He shook it off. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you had to see that yesterday. With the other Agent Venom.”

“It’s…” Andi pulled her knees up to her chest and turned away. “I know it wasn’t him, not really. We talked a little bit, but I don’t think things went down the same way where he came from. It was Flash, but it wasn’t. His symbiote was a little different, too. But you? And Venom? We felt it right away.”

“You can  _feel_ it?”

“He’s different, though, isn’t he? We can tell. And he told me last night. His last host did something to him, didn’t he?”

“Look,” he said, and pressed his hand to his forehead, “I can’t… We need to focus on getting out of this hellhole.”

She rocked forward onto her feet, standing to stretch her arms. “I agree.” Andi walked over and held out a hand to him. “But that’s my friend you’ve got on you. And I’ll beat you up if you hurt him.”

Somehow, he knew she meant it. After a long hesitation, he reached up and grasped her hand. “Eddie Brock.”

“Andrea Benton,” she responded in kind, and pulled him up with a surprising amount of strength for such a tiny girl. “Come on, I’ve got a little bit until Robbie and I have to take the next watch. I think Not-Wolverine’s up. Coach would…” Andi’s voice cracked, just a little, and Mania quickly re-wrapped her face. “He’d say we need a Hail Mary.”

“More like an ‘Impossible Return’...”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, because I’m assuming it’s another sports metaphor and I’ll cry for real if I…” She stopped and took a breath. When he stepped forward, she put a hand out. “I’m good, I’m good. I think Ant-Man said he’d found some canned goods somewhere. And you’re a shitty tactician but we’re running out of ideas, and Deadpool’s probably long-gone…”

Eddie nodded in agreement and patted her shoulder. In his mind, the symbiote murmured its thanks as they headed towards the others in their makeshift compound. It slipped out a tendril to find Andi’s hand, and he swore she smiled just a little when she touched it, just before it slipped back into his suit.

They needed a win. No way they were going to let anything happen to this kid.


	2. Runnin' Blind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Venom and Mania are fighting for their lives in another dimension, their home of Earth-616 has been dealing with the fallout of the so-called _Secret Empire_. For most, life is returning to normal, but for Flash Thompson, whose goddaughter has been missing for about a month, he's only getting more and more stressed out.
> 
> Fortunately for him, he has people he can reach out to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Historian's Note: The following takes place almost directly after the events of Secret Empire. You don't really need to know how things went down, except that it was a bad time for everyone. This is also the extension of my headcanon that Venomverse took place during the time of Secret Empire, and due to temporal distortion between universes, what may have been only a week or even a few days there, could be much, much longer here.  
> References also made to Civil War II and Inhumans vs. X-Men.
> 
> (Quick disclaimer: I'm pretty behind on my Dr. Strange comics, so if I made any massively glaring errors, feel free to let me know!)
> 
>  
> 
> _Special thanks to my co-writer, Amaronith, and to all my friends who have kept encouraging me. I know I write slowly but I'm determined to keep going!_

********_Earth-616  
_ _Manhattan Silver Spoon Cafe  
_ _New York City, NY_

“Eugene, a third cup of coffee is not going to make your phone ring. _Eat something_.”

Flash stared at his untouched breakfast: an omelette, two pancakes, and appropriately-greasy hashbrowns. The waitress had indeed come around a third time to refill his cup, looking a bit worried at the fact that he hadn’t even taken one bite of his food. He was a regular here, the staff was nice, and the food was the rare combination of inexpensive and edible.

But the pit in his stomach wouldn’t let him eat.

Across the table, Betty Brant frowned and reached out with her fork to steal a piece of pancake. “Flash, come on. I know you’re worried about Andi, but-”

“Worried? _Worried?_ ” he repeated, sharper than he intended, but he was too tired and strung too tight to catch himself. “She’s my goddaughter, and she has been missing for _four weeks_. Plucked from thin air, sucked in through some goddamn _portal_ and I can’t help her and I don’t know where my partner is and…” He buried his face in his hands, fingers tangling in his hair. “You know what the worst part of this is?”

“Probably, but take a bite of that stack there and I’ll let you tell me anyways.”

Dutifully, he sliced off an edge and stuck it in his mouth. Still felt like sandpaper, but - as she often did - Betty had the right idea. He needed to eat.

“This whole thing,” he said, gesturing to the air, “is just the tip of the iceberg.” Flash took a bite of omelette and discovered it went down easier. He lowered his voice. “Ever since we returned from our Guardians run, it’s just been one thing after another. Iron Man and Captain Marvel pitting all us hero-types against each other. The crisis with the Inhumans and the whole mutant population.”

He hadn’t heard much about that, except through the grapevine of a few contacts he had, and a couple vague e-mails from Hank McCoy. They’d been meaning to get together for coffee since his return but, well, _one crisis after another_.

“And _then_ fucking _Captain_ -” Flash ground his teeth and slammed his fist on the table. Several patrons looked up and stared at them. He stamped his temper down and glared at his breakfast after muttering a quick “sorry”. As per usual, it was only a matter of moments before the diner returned to normal. Even so, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to focus too much on the burning sense of betrayal in his chest.

A hand touched his own. Slowly his fist relaxed. “I know, Flash. I know he was one of your heroes, and more than likely it was probably the machinations of something beyond any of us, but…”

“At least I had enough bottled water to last for the month…”

The so-called _Secret Empire_ had emerged out of nowhere, rearing its ugly head mere days after Andi’s disappearance. He’d hated knowing he couldn’t do anything to help anyone; he’d felt useless. Things had since seemed to return to normal, but Flash had a feeling they’d be licking their wounds from this for a while.

The worst part, though, had been Dr. Strange being tied up with trying to not let Manhattan succumb completely to the Darkforce. Obviously he understood that the fate of the city meant more than one vanished teenager but… he’d sworn to protect her, and he’d failed. Even if he had been still bonded to Venom, there was no guarantee he could’ve saved her - she’d been all the way in Philadelphia, after all.

The “what if”s were going to kill him.

“Flash? You still with me?”

He turned his hand over to squeeze hers before letting go. Maybe they’d been broken up for well over two years, but they had mended fences enough to ease into a comfortable friendship. He could accept that Betty deserved better than him and, well, it was _nice_ to have someone who kind of already knew the situation. She wouldn’t _get it_ ; wouldn’t understand the nature of the bond and how losing his partner had felt like losing a part of himself, but at least she was willing to listen.

Finally, he said, “Yeah, I’m okay. It’s just a lot. The office is re-opening Monday, but people are still a little unnerved by all the sorcerers and such lingering around Manhattan, looking like they’re preparing for a kaiju-sized demon to appear out of nowhere.” Flash shoveled more food into his mouth and spoke around it. “I almost wish Andi had disappeared _during_ that mess, because at least the magic types would know what to do.”

“Have you thought about trying to track down… well, you know.”

“Of _course_. I’ve been trying to track him down for months! I couldn’t even feel him for like three weeks, not even a notion, and then finally _something_ , but… I don’t even know if it was him. I’ve tried to hit up the feds for intel on the whereabouts of Toxin or Carnage, just to rule them out, but they’re keeping tight-lipped about everything.” He stabbed into his omelette. “Nobody is telling me a thing.”

As if on cue, his cell phone lit up, the buzzing intense enough to make his silverware rattle. Flash stared at it in disbelief before taking a quick gulp of water and almost choking on it. He swiped to answer the call from the restricted number.

“Hello? Doctor Strange?” Anxiety squeezed his insides.

“Eugene! Didn’t think you would pick up; in fact was half-hoping you might not, I’ve got-”

“Did you find anything about Andi? Andrea Benton?” He mouthed to Betty, “it’s him!” before turning his attention back to the phone.

A nervous cough on the other end of the line. “Well, not - not exactly. I did have a chance to reach out to a colleague in Philadelphia, who says that the residual energy in the area she vanished from is just the kind of time-space warp spell I would use in order to-”

“Great! Where is she?”

“It’s not that simple. If you have time today, I could probably show you better at the Sanctum.”

“I can be in Greenwich Village in twenty minutes.”

Betty glared at him from across the table and motioned to his half-full plates of food.

“...make that thirty, I gotta…”

“No worries, Mr. Thompson. I have a hellbeast that keeps coming through a dimensional rift in the half-bath and I can’t quite get it closed, and though Brunnhilde does speak highly of you, you are probably not equipped to combat it.”

He smiled at the mention of his old teammate (who was also his old flame). He’d reached out to the Valkyrie, knowing she and Strange had worked together extensively, and whatever had taken Andi had seemed in the vein of the Sorcerer Supreme.

“Yeah, I owe Val one for this. Thanks again, Strange; I’ll see you soon.”

As soon as he hung up, Betty nudged his plate towards him. “Eat and I’ll even pick up the tab.”

“Sold,” he said, and all but shoveled the rest of his food down.

This felt like the first good news he’d had in _weeks_.

\----

About forty-five minutes and a quick bus ride later, Flash looked up at the Greenwich Village mansion, an old building of brick and glass and the tell-tale skylight on its roof. It stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of Manhattan, and few actually knew what went _on_ in there, even within the general New York hero community. New York was huge, though, and seemed to be in a constant state of under attack by something or other, so it wasn’t unusual for people to not cross paths.

Aside from a Thunderbolts mission his memory was still pretty hazy on, he didn’t know much at all about Stephen Strange. Even at _that_ point, Strange had been possessed by something or other, but Flash hadn’t been one to get caught up in the little details. Even just the thought of working with Venom within an old team, though it had ultimately not been a great experience… It made his heart ache in a way that was no more or less than how it did for Andi, but pained him in a different way.

He and Betty had parted ways at the bus, and as much as he had appreciated her offer to go with him, Strange tended to be… _weird_ about visitors. Most of the sorcerer kind of folks were.

Flash had come face-to-face with Mephisto, though. More than once. He could handle whatever news Strange had for him.

He rolled up to the huge doors, and before he had even figured out where a doorbell or knocker was at, one of them pulled open. A young woman in a beanie and glasses beamed at him, sweat beaded at her forehead and what appeared to be some kind of battleaxe in hand.

“Hey! You must be Eugene Thompson!” She stuck a hand out and he hesitated just a moment - there appeared to be some kind of fluid on it. “Oh, sorry,” she said, and wiped it off on her pants, “you know how it is, crazy things coming in through the dimensional rift.”

“Yeah, sure, I was part of the Vegas thing a few years back. The whole, uh, falling into the pit of Hell and unwittingly entering into a contract with Mephisto.” He took her hand briefly. “Call me Flash.”

“Zelma Stanton; I’m Doctor Strange’s apprentice-slash-librarian. He’s probably still getting lectured by Wong about something or other; I swear, that man is the only one who keeps Stephen humble.” Zelma lowered her voice to a stage whisper. “Strange is kind of insufferable, once you get to know him.”

Flash smirked despite himself and wheeled in once she stepped aside. The Sanctum Sanctorum was _massive_ , especially for its location in such a busy part of Manhattan. Victorian architecture framed the long staircase, the wooden floors littered with clusters of strange objects that filled the air with an inexplicable energy.

“Don’t touch anything.”

He swiveled to face the staircase as Strange jogged down to meet him. The Sorcerer Supreme was trying to fix his hair, not that it helped the fact that his blue robes were torn in several spots and stained with whatever had been on Zelma’s hand. Strange didn’t even look at his apprentice as he approached Flash.

“Zelma, our _guest_ is back where it belongs. Clean the axe and put it back.”

She stared at him expectantly.

“ _Please_.”

“Got it. I’ll be in the library, making sure another rift doesn’t open.”

Strange sighed and finally turned to Flash. “I would apologize for her, but I’ve been told she is, and I quote, ‘a good influence on me’.” He waved a hand for Flash to follow as he headed towards the back of the first floor. “Ms. Stanton is a librarian from the Bronx. Came to me with Mind Maggots. Nasty little things. She has an unusual aptitude for magic, though, and we have been through… a lot.”

“She seems enthusiastic.”

“Hmm. In any case, she is important to me. I understand the girl who has gone missing, she was your apprentice, as well?”

“It’s… complicated.” Flash grimaced and followed Strange into what looked like a large office. “I was her teacher, and we were neighbors, and then her dad got caught in the crossfire when I was fighting Jack o’ Lantern and then I sent a part of Venom out to protect her but it bonded with her and-”

“-meaning that the two symbiotes are inherently connected to each other, yes?”

“I mean, yeah, all of Venom and his… its spawn are.”

Strange dropped into a chair across from Flash and steepled his fingers. “But this ‘Mania’, it isn’t a normal spawn, according to the files I may or may not have bribed a few old co-workers for.” He inclined his head, gazing at Flash with such intensity it sent a small shiver up his spine. “It’s a clone, and so the connection is stronger.”

“I… guess?” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Look, Doctor Strange, with all due respect, I don’t see what this has to do with getting my goddaughter back.”

“It has _everything_ to do with locating Andrea Benton. You see, after hearing about what happened in Philadelphia, I decided to do a kind of… regional scan for similar magical energies. And I found the same right over in Queens, about a week later.”

Flash’s eyes widened. “Someone else was taken?”

“ _Two_ others, it seems.” He paused and reached over to retrieve a cell phone from his desk. “Well, and… not everything is magic-based. Around approximately the same time, social media tagged in that area gave me another answer.” Strange handed over the phone. “See for yourself.”

Half-worried it might suddenly grow legs or something, Flash took the device and eyed it. It was probably the most normal thing in the whole building.

“Don’t worry, I’ve enchanted it so it won’t be affected by the energies of the Sanctum or vice versa.”

A little tension left his shoulders. He started thumbing through the captured screenshots from various social media sites:

> “#venom chasing flaming pumpkin guy through queens!”  
>  “pretty sure i just heard #spiderman say he was gonna eat someone #backinblack”

The next few were blurry images of what certainly _looked_ like Venom slamming none other than ol’ Jack himself into the pavement. Subsequent messages were of said figure getting pulled through some kind of portal, accompanied by shocked emoji faces and “did you see this crazy shit?!” sorts of messages. Flash shook his head and handed the phone back.

“I… can’t say for certain if that was Venom.”

Strange hummed under his breath. “And what does your intuition tell you, Eugene?”

_Yes. It tells me yes. It tells me that was Venom, and I don’t know who the hell his host is right now, but the last thing Andi told was that Venom was_ hurting _, and it kills me that I don’t know if he’s still hurting. I don’t know who he’s with. What if that’s Mac Gargan? Or what if someone pulled another crime-family-auction again?_

“It tells me there’s a lot happening here I don’t know about.” He groaned aloud. “It’s just - what you’re telling me is that wherever Venom and its host are, Andi and Mania are probably there, too. But we don’t know _where_ , and you still haven’t told me how to get any of them back, and what if some psycho’s got Venom? You remember when Gargan was Venom, right? The damn _cannibal?_ ” His voice had since risen to a yell, terror gripping his heart at the thought of Andi somewhere out there in the universe, being hunted by his own partner, Venom manipulated back to the way he’d been years; _centuries_ ago-

“I can’t protect _anyone!_ ” Flash slammed his fist down on the arm of his chair, wanting nothing more than to bloody his fists on a punching bag. He ground his teeth because he was not going to lose it in front of an _Avenger_.

He hadn’t touched a drink since Vegas, well over two years ago. But he’d never wanted one more than he did in this moment.

For a long moment, the two sat in silence, Flash trying to slow his breathing and Strange contemplating him. At last he lifted his head and fixated on a crack in the wall behind the Sorcerer Supreme. He _should_ apologize. Strange had been a hero at the same time Flash had been a cocky teenager, lashing out at other kids and shoving them against lockers. They weren’t equals; not even close. He _should_ have been grateful to even have Strange’s attention.

But all he’d felt was tired yet too anxious to sleep for the past three weeks.

“You know what’s crazy?” Strange just lifted an eyebrow, so Flash took it as an invitation to continue. “The moment Andi bonded with Mania, of course the first thing she wanted to do was tear apart the guy who’d killed her dad, but they bonded to each other _so quickly_. I was terrified. But she didn’t have hardly any issues finding a rhythm with her new partner. They learned almost faster than I could teach them. Even after the Hellmark incident in Philly, and all that-”

“-that was _you?_ ” he interrupted, sitting up.

Guilt turned Flash’s gut. “Yeah, we - Venom and I - felt it from all the way across the galaxy. We hurried home, and- I’m sorry, what does this have to do with finding her?”

“A Hellmark is a very specific kind of brand. It’s not easily tracked, but knowing she has one means I can more easily pinpoint when and where she reappears.”

“But you can’t tell where she _is?_ ”

“Unfortunately not. But it’s not a spell meant to be a one-way-trip.”

“So, what do we do in the meantime?”

Strange frowned. “You probably don’t want to hear this, but…”

Flash leaned forward, knuckles white on the arms of his chair. “No, tell me. Tell me how it’s hopeless. Tell me how I’m useless like _this_.”

“Flash-”

“Forget it. Forget I asked.” He swiveled the wheelchair and shook his head. “Maybe I’ll ask Mephisto. She’s his… herald, or whatever.”

“ _Thompson, you do not know what you’re dealing with!_ ”

Just as fast, he turned back, and cut off his retort only when he saw Strange looking as frustrated as him. For all his magic abilities and weapons, the sorcerer had never appeared quite so… intimidating as he did in this moment. Flash bit his tongue and just lifted his eyebrows.

“I… I failed someone, too. A protege. Years ago.” He seemed to force calm and sat down again. “I couldn’t protect her. She was dealing with magic she didn’t understand and all this time, she’s been gone, and I haven’t found her. Do you know what that’s like? To have as much power and knowledge as I do and not be able to rescue _one person?_ ” Strange pressed his trembling hands together. “You’re right; I don’t know Andrea. I don’t know _you_ very well. I don’t know symbiotes or space or anything any of you have been through. But _please_ , trust me when I say I will do everything I can to get her back to you. But don’t you dare go making deals you’ll regret.”

Flash looked down and felt a different twinge of guilt. He’d been bluffing, mostly, trying to goad the Sorcerer Supreme into stepping over a line, and now he just felt like an ass. He opened his mouth to apologize but Strange lifted a hand.

“It’s fine. The magic used _does_ have the same kind of spark to it that mine does, so in the event that it is one of my multiversal counterparts? I would hope he shares my moral code. With any luck, both Andrea Benton and her partner - and your old symbiote and its current host - will come through at the same time. I can cast a transportation spell to bring you right to the location if and when that happens.”

The fear still whispered _what if that’s not for a week? a month? ever?_ but he knew this was all they could do. “You really think she’ll come back?”

“I’m a man of science first and foremost, Eugene. But if this position has taught me anything, it’s that I can trust a hunch. And I have a very strong hunch she is not going to be gone much longer.”

Flash managed a nod and a tired smile.

“Go home, Flash. Get some sleep. You look like hell. It has been a rough month for all of us and believe it or not, I _also_ know what it is like to feel depleted.” He sat back and rested his chin in his hand. “I may have had my medical license revoked some time ago, but I hope you will still take my advice to take care of yourself. Have you been?”

He thought back on the past month. He’d taken temporary leave from his job at the VA offices in South Battery Park City, citing a family emergency, and then the country had crumbled. About a week later the office had been closed for obvious reasons, and then he couldn’t even get to the med center in the Bronx for his physical therapy… His whole routine he’d made himself get used to after losing Venom had been thrown for a loop.

It was perhaps by the grace of some higher power that he’d managed to stay sober despite not being able to get to a meeting. Well, that, and Betty calling him almost every day to check on him.

“I need to get back on track. It’s just hard.”

He quirked a sympathetic smile. “When you took Anthony Stark’s place among the Guardians, he told me about you - about your character and your strength; your _optimism_. Stark may have been bull-headed and egotistical but he knew a thing or two about having demons in your past. He thought you could handle just about anything, and I’m inclined to trust his judgment. You _will_ get through this, Flash.”

Flash didn’t know if he believed Strange, but he appreciated the sentiment all the same. With that encouragement in the back of his mind, he let the sorcerer lead him out of the Sanctum and back into the real world. He waved Strange and Zelma good-bye and dug out his phone while he waited at the nearest bus stop. He tapped out a quick message to Betty:

“Call me if you get a second. Might have some good news.”


	3. Fools Rush In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back on the Venomverse world, the symbiote-powered heroes and their allies are struggling to find a way to defeat the Poisons and return to their respective universes. As for Eddie Brock and Andrea Benton, they'll need to learn to trust each other if they want to get out of here alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time, but I'm getting back into the groove of writing. A lot of things have been changed and established within 616 canon for Venom, but as is usual for me, I'll be ignoring most of that. Special thanks to everyone who supported me during Kinktober (you can read the works [here](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1148891) if you like) as it inspired me to get back to DtD. 
> 
> Chapter Four is in the works, but here's Three!

“ _This is not a plan!_ ”

“And _you_ have a better idea?”

“Yeah! How about not bringing in a psychotic serial killer from another dimension!”

Eddie buried his face in his hands and started pacing. His other remained mostly silent, though its nervousness felt apparent and the emotion was starting to drive in a feedback loop. “We don’t have a choice. We’ve lost Captain America, Agent Venom, and countless others. The Poisons don’t fight clean. We can’t either.” He clenched their claws into half-fists and took a deep breath before turning back to Mania. “We don’t _know_ what Carnage is like in this other universe. Maybe he is less… volatile.”

Most symbiotes didn’t emote on their host’s faces very well, but Mania seemed unusually expressive. “Coach told us all about him. About how he took over a town; about how he almost took over the _microverse_ -”

“The _what?_ ”

“I don’t know, ask Venom!”

_“Can show you?”_

_Not… not a good time, love._ He shook his head. Too many conversations. This was why he didn’t like team-ups. “Strange said he can do the spell. The little… weasel-guy-”

“- _Rocket_ -”

“-has the explosive device in the works and, look, we have dealt with Carnage before. Several times, in fact. We give him a target; dangle a challenge in front of him, and he’ll take it.”

Mania shook her head and threw up her hands. “Fine! Fine. I guess at least if we all get killed by Carnage it’ll be faster than getting absorbed by Poisons.”

“Are you always this much of a little… pest,” Eddie finally snarled, ignoring his other’s protests, “or is it just because my symbiote chose to come back to me?”

_“Eddie, Eddie no, don’t fight!”_

“Just because I said I didn’t _hate_ you doesn’t mean I _like_ you,” she snapped back. Her symbiote’s eyes turned jagged, the spikes of her suit seeming to grow sharper as she bristled. “I don’t know what’s going on with you or Venom, but he’s not _your_ symbiote. Not unless he tells me himself.” Mania turned and stalked off. “I’ve got to join Robbie for a watch. Try not to get everyone killed, or I might start to think they were right about you.”

Her words stabbed through his chest like a knife. Eddie gazed after them in disbelief as Mania swung away, the anger and frustration radiating off both girl and symbiote. His companion had since fallen silent. _She doesn’t…_ mean _that, does she?_

_“Don’t know. Out of options, Eddie. Can’t get home without helping them.”_

They slung a web and went to rejoin the others, Eddie no longer convinced that this plan was no less dangerous than just going to the Poisons and surrendering.

\----

The moment red tendrils spilled from Strange’s portal, his other bristled in anticipation of a fight. Eddie’s blood turned to ice in his veins. Strange was struggling to pull Carnage through, and for a moment, Eddie was tempted to tell the sorcerer to call this all off. Most of those gathered here did not have Carnage on their worlds. The idea turned his gut. Did that mean they’d all manage to keep their symbiotes safe and thus avoid the reproductive cycle from starting? If he’d never gotten thrown in prison, if he’d protected the symbiote from Styx, if he’d killed Cletus Kasady when he’d had the chance-

_“Not only you, Eddie.”_

It showed him flashes of memories; fighting as Agent Venom against Carnage both in a small town and again in the Microverse. Multiple times Flash could’ve put a bullet in Kasady and never did. It wasn’t as though Thompson had never played judge, jury, and executioner before, same as Eddie. It seemed this was on both of them. Nevertheless…

_Is that supposed to make me feel better?_

The symbiote didn’t answer, just sharpened them both as Carnage appeared in a mass of red tendrils. Carnage immediately launched into a spiel about himself, and Eddie stepped up in front of Black Panther and Strange.

_He can’t be stronger than our Carnage, can he?_

_“Don’t know. Took many to take them out. Different world; different events.”_

They stood their ground, hands up in a placating gesture (for what it was worth). “Carnage… Cletus… I know this is unsettling. But hear me out. Don’t do anything _rash_. We brought you here because we need you. We need you to _kill_ for us.”

Carnage contemplated them then, calculating in that maniacal, chaotic way they did. Kasady was no strategist, more like a loose cannon, but he knew a thousand ways to kill a man.

Thankfully, so did they.

Red and black tendrils sharpened into haphazard blades, and a feeling like a warning went off in the back of Eddie’s mind. “You… ain’t my daddy. You look like him… _smell_ like him… but you _ain’t_ him. I just bet, though-” And without warning, Carnage sprang forward, slashing mercilessly at Venom’s most vulnerable spots. “-that you’ll _die_ like him!”

Eddie bottled down the symbiote’s fury and settled for holding back and trying to restrain the serial killer. “You’re not listening! We need you! You want someone to murder, we’ll give you that in spades!”

“Don’t you worry, not-Daddy,” Carnage said with a grin that made Eddie want to puke more than anything, “whoever they are, I’m sure I’ll get to them. But - you _first!_ ”

As they struggled to hold their progeny down, the one that looked like Wolverine called from above, “Just say the word and I’ll cut him down.”

They started to call back that it was useless; that as long as the symbiote and Cletus were bonded, it would take more than every claw on every symbiote-powered individual gathered here to take him down.

“What is this?” Carnage turned to face the Wolverine and Black Panther currently stepping in to help Venom. “So many Venoms! Is it _Christmas morning?_ "

Venom managed to land a kick at the small of Carnage’s back. “Cletus - you’re making it awfully difficult to pull our punches!”

“Don’t you dare!” Carnage snarled as Strange lingered nearby. “Don’t you dare go easy, Daddy-o! Don’t you cheat me out of this!” Without warning, he leapt up, scaling the church wall with an ease that would’ve put the likes of Spider-Man to shame. “You don’t want to give this bloodbath your all? I’ll come back when your head’s in the game!”

They immediately raced after Carnage, because if he was going the way they were sure they were going--

They swung at him just as he laid eyes on Mania and the Rider. **“** ** _Mania!_** **”** they hollered in warning, because if anything, _anything_ happened to her-! She was smart, though, and leapt out of the way before Carnage could land a hit. Mania shot him the _cruelest_ look - only to be interrupted by half a dozen Poisons breaking through the wall.

And by some miracle, Carnage took the bait.

He tore through each of them like they were tissue paper. It would’ve been more gruesome if not for the fact that they knew the Poisons were all goners, anyways. Their hosts and the symbiotes were dead; cannibalized by parasites. For once, it occurred to them that Carnage might be doing the poor sods a favor.

He had his uses, at least.

As the rest of them focused on their own battles, dodging the small Poisons and taking out the larger ones, something tugged at the back of his mind, the symbiote telling him--

_“Ghost Rider! Mania!”_

Eddie cursed internally and swung through the compound just in time to see Carnage stab through the Rider’s chest with the horrible sound of blades cutting through flesh and exoskeleton. He heard - no, they _felt_ \- deafening anger. But it wasn’t them, it was--

“You _bastard!_ ”

Mania screeched and shifted to a horrible creature with a thousand teeth; blades sharp enough to rend flesh as easily as Venom’s progeny. They whipped tendrils out, holding her back as she tried to break free, dead-set on tearing Carnage to shreds. He turned to Mania next, only to be stopped by the two-clawed Wolverine. Laura, the symbiote informed him.

They got in close enough to wrap one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist. Her hellmark glowed like a flame, and though Eddie knew they wouldn’t be affected by hellfire the same as _normal_ fire… they needed to de-escalate the situation or the two might rip each other apart long before the Poisons came back to them.

Much to his surprise, Mania was stronger than he expected. “He wants a bloodbath; we’ll give him one!”

 **“Mania,** **_don’t!_** **”**

“I’ll cut ya to ribbons, girlie; Daddy-o won’t be able to save you _then!_ ”

Laura poised her claws close to Carnage's throat. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Let me go! He killed Robbie!”

Underneath the anger, Eddie could hear Andi’s voice break. They looked over to see a Poisoned Ghost Rider, bleeding out on the floor, as good as dead. It took a Poison mere seconds to take a host completely. Carnage had let up on attacking the Venoms, so…

“Kid, I’m sorry,” Eddie said finally, his voice cutting through his symbiote clearer now. “Robbie was gone. You know there’s nothing left after they get turned. Carnage probably did him a fav-”

“ _Shut up!_ ” she snapped. Her hands lit up as though to cast hellfire across the field, but then she sagged, Mania returning to a more normal look, and she choked back sobs. “He was… he was my friend… and now he’s gone, just like…”

“Easy, Andi; breathe.”

Carnage scoffed and stalked off, practically twitching with anticipation. “I’ll be sure to blow in a snot rag in his honor when I feel like sniveling.”

They sank down to the floor with her, Eddie at a loss for words and the symbiote not giving him any ideas. She took a few deep breaths, clearly trying to pull herself together, and he wanted to tell her to just let it all out, that she shouldn’t have to bottle this up, that she shouldn’t have to watch people die violently a thousand worlds from home. Mania was strong, but Andi? She was strong too, but she was just a kid.

A kid who’d lost a lot.

Black Panther approached, and Venom helped Mania to her feet. She straightened her back; squared her shoulders. They kept a claw on her shoulder when she didn’t immediately shrug it off. Eddie knew it was probably his other she felt the kinship with, but considering they’d met less than twenty-four hours ago, as long as they could keep her safe, he didn’t care what she thought of him.

“Brock, Mania, Laura; it’s Strange.”

“What?” Laura glanced away from Carnage for just a moment. “The Poisons left, didn’t they?”

Panther clenched his claws into fists. “They _took_ him.”

\-----

Minutes later, they were swinging through the destroyed city, Laura, the Panther, and Spinneret - the alias of the Mary Jane among them, he’d learned - Mania bringing up the rear. He fell back a few paces, catching Mania’s eye.

“ _What._ ”

“Just… checking in on you.”

Mania spun another web with more gusto this time, glaring at Carnage’s back. “What’s it even matter? We’re all gonna die here anyways.”

The symbiote took over before Eddie could protest, snagging Mania’s webline and yanking her aside. She tumbled to the ground with a yelp and glared at them.

“What the hell was that for?!”

 **“Do not speak that way, Andi!”** He kept a mental rein on his other, but something changed in her body language upon realizing that Venom was less Eddie and more the symbiote at that moment. **“Not dying here! Going to get you home… one way or another!”** They took her head in their hands, then, gently but with purpose. **“Trust us, Andi? Mania?”**

She withered a little. “Y-yeah. We trust you. Both of you.” Mania picked herself up. “Come on, let’s catch up with the others.”

\-----

The day passed into night, and they thwarted off another Poison attack, taking one of theirs to interrogate. Mania had returned the favor in that fight, managing to hit a tiny Poison with her wrench milliseconds before it could take them. They didn’t say anything, not even a “thank-you”, but caught her eye and she nodded to them.

_You watch my back, I’ll watch yours._

It seemed that perhaps Flash Thompson _had_ taught her one or two useful things…

While holed up in the new makeshift compound, not getting anything out of their hostage, none other than Deadpool had showed up. Poisoned, yes, but apparently of sound (or perhaps _unsound_ ) enough mind to help them devise an infiltration plan.

The next hour passed in a blur. Rocket set up the bomb in the Poisons’ ship, Carnage and Deadpool staged a distraction, the rest of them taking their respective stands against the hoards. Mania, Laura, the Panther, and Venom all went to rescue Dr. Strange, knowing he was their only way home. Knowing time was not on their side, though, they moved quickly, facing down the magic-types trying to break down Strange’s wards so they could take him.

Not on Venom’s watch, they weren’t.

Mania took both the Wizard and the Scarlet Witch with her wrench and blasted a Poison away from Venom with her hellfire. “Hurry!” she shouted above the din as the others tried to help Strange to his feet. “I can’t rely on my other powers too much; it’s…”

_“Dangerous for her. Know that demon.”_

Eddie frowned deeply at his symbiote but pushed the knowledge aside for now. “Come on, kid, we’ve got mere minutes. Move it, Strange, or the Poisons won’t be your biggest concern.”

“You always _were_ full of yourself, Brock. A lot of bark, not a lot of bite.”

They immediately moved Mania behind them despite her protests. They turned to the others and hissed, “Go, _go!_ ” pushing the teenager to follow them. Then Venom faced Spider-Man, but it wasn’t like old times, not at all. Back on their world, they’d allied with Spider-Man more than they’d fought him. This one was just as cocky and bull-headed as their own, but the Spider-Man they knew? He wouldn’t have wanted to be carted around by a parasite.

They snarled and sharpened their claws. “You’re a piece of shit in every universe, Spider-Man…” The Poison’s exoskeleton moved into a smirk in response, and Venom rushed at him. “...but the one _I_ know would never be someone else’s _bitch!_ ”

Whatever was left of the New Yorker came alive with a roar. They collided in a flurry of claws and tendrils, Venom digging in with all their collective might and tearing into their foe. Spider-Man fought back strong, but it wasn’t _him_ ; not even close. The Spider _they_ knew could fight hard and dirty, fueled by rage and passion. This one fought mechanically, every blow a perfect calculation and hit, but it rang hollow.

_“Healing too fast! Need to end-”_

And then a wrench flew out and caved in the impostor’s skull. They spun around just as Mania retrieved her weapon.

**“We told you to run!”**

“Yeah, well that’s _bullshit!_ ” She grabbed their hand and sprinted, pulling them along. “Coach told me to make allies wherever you can, and guess what? That’s _you_ , asshole.”

They came to a hallway as alarms blared around them, Rocket’s self-destruct plan clearly in motion. Hundreds of tiny Poisons scuttled near, and Mania yanked them closer. They took her arm, ready to do whatever it took, but those little hellbeasts were _not_ laying a finger on her.

“Eddie?”

They looked back to her.

“Eddie, they keep showing me… they keep showing me my dad. But I know it’s not real. I know you’re real, and I know Venom’s real, and you asked me to trust you, but now…” Her voice shook as the symbiote faded beneath her, revealing the purple tracksuit and burning Hellmark. “...stay close and trust _me!_ ”

She slammed her hands to the floor and cracks appeared all around like an impact crater. Her eyes burned as hot and bright as the flames that exploded from the ground, an unearthly scream that made his symbiote cling a little tighter. The Poisons incinerated in the wake of her hellfire, hundreds in one fell swoop.

Eddie stared at her, stunned, and only his other had the sense to grab the girl as she fell to her knees. The glow vanished as quickly as it had come, her partner snaking out in small tendrils as if intimidated by its host’s show of power.

**“Andrea-!”**

She gasped for breath and touched where her partner wound about her neck. “I know, I know it’s scary, I couldn’t lose you to them, okay?” Andi shook her head and looked to Venom. “I didn’t think that was gonna work,” she admitted.

“You’re going to be the death of us.”

She laughed weakly but didn’t protest when they scooped her up and threw her over their shoulder. Mania snagged her weapon in a webline and held on. Time to sprint for home.

\-----

When they finally reached the rendezvous point, Strange had already started the spell to send them each home. Only a few otherwise remained - Spinneret, Black Panther, Rocket, and the younger Wolverine. Laura rushed over, claws unsheathed and looking wary.

“Is she…?”

“All good, Laura,” Mania said, albeit weakly.

“Better be,” Rocket piped up. He tapped the self-destruct countdown. “We’ve got seconds! If the Doc here doesn’t get it together-!”

“Shut up and let him concentrate!” Mary Jane snapped. She wrinkled her brow as she stepped up to Eddie, and he let Mania down, still holding her close. “Brock, for what it’s worth…” Her mouth pulled into a hard line. “I may have been-”

“Save it,” he growled, a little more harshly than intended. The symbiote tapped a bit at his mind, asking permission, and they spoke then as one. “We know there are many worlds out there; places where we have the same name and even the same body, but are not the same person.”

“You may not be a hero, Eddie Brock,” the Panther said, standing aside as the numbers counted down, “but remember what has happened here. On your own world, perhaps there is still good you can do.”

“Everyone,” Strange called out as he moved his hands one last time, casting the spell, “brace yourselves!”

They clutched Mania tight, and she wrapped her arms around them, face buried into their chest. They took one last look around at the other Venoms, at the glow of magic, and the roaring fire of the explosion, and they fell through the portal-

\- and dumped out right in the alley where they’d fought Jack o’ Lantern. They shielded Mania from the fall, only letting go when she pushed away to get to her feet. It was night. Maybe they hadn’t been gone so long? It was possible Strange had sent them back to the same moment in time, right?

They steadied her when she wobbled. **“Are you all right?”**

“Peachy,” she grumbled. Mania peeled away, leaving only Andrea Benton in a jacket and pants over her athletic wear. “Thanks for grabbing me as Strange sent us home. I know I need to get back to Philly, but… I really need to see Coach right now.”

 **“We understand.”** Or, at least, the symbiote did. Eddie stayed suited up, reluctant to yet reveal himself in public, even if the street was empty. They looked around, surveying the area. **“This is Astoria; Manhattan is just across the bay. We would be happy to accompany you back to wherever you wish to go.”**

Andi shrugged and rubbed her arm. “I think I’ll be okay, but… Eddie…” She waited until the symbiote had dissolved from around his head before she continued. “What I said earlier, about everyone being right about you or not; I’m sorry. I just, I was really worried about Venom. I know something’s not right with him.” Andi hesitated a moment. “I’m gonna tell Coach about what you and Venom did over there; protecting me and stuff. I really think you should reach out to him, though, if you can find a way. Venom was his partner and… and I think he knows you’re not, like, a terrible person.”

Eddie scoffed and was immediately admonished by his other. She must’ve caught an inkling of the exchange, because she smiled a little.

“I also know you _can_ find him, because he told me about how you tracked him across state lines, which is _kind_ of creepy but, y’know how weird symbiote stuff can be.”

“Yeah, kid. ‘Weird’ probably doesn’t even cut it.”

She chuckled and, after a moment, stepped forward and hugged him. “This is for Venom,” Andi muttered. He felt his other slink a few tendrils out to embrace her and its sibling in kind before retreating. “...maybe a little bit for you, too.”

“Take care of yourself, all right?” Eddie brushed her hair away from her face.

She grinned up at him. “You too, Brock.”

Just then, a light shimmered before them, and he immediately bounded up to the wall, the symbiote camouflaging them while still keeping an eye on the alley below. He felt immediate elation and relief when none other than Flash Thompson stepped out of a portal, followed by Strange, but the feeling vanished just as fast. The veteran looked like he hadn’t slept in days, and he wrapped Andi up in a hug so tight it could have been crushing. Strange looked up in Venom’s direction, but if he saw anything, he didn’t say.

Eddie knew his other wanted so badly to return to the street, even as it tried to hide the need. He could admit, too, that he envied their reunion a little bit. Flash had clearly been awaiting his goddaughter’s return. They listened in, and they heard Flash murmur through his tears:

“Andi, you’ve been gone for a month and a half!”


	4. Only the Strong Survive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Andi and her symbiotic partner back home, Flash feels like he can finally breathe again. A month of stress and worry can finally be let go... at least, until it's time to face the unexpected ally who kept his goddaughter safe the whole time she was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am the slowest updater ever but here it is! Updated! Thanks to everyone for all the love and patience and encouragement. I know, I know, it's kind of ridiculous that I have months-long stretches so I'm not going to make any promises about update speed. But the update will always come. I promise I won't abandon this. 
> 
> In other news, Andi is my favourite character ever. And canon is invalid.

“Do you need another blanket?”

Sure, he’d wrapped her up in one the second they got into the apartment, and then threw a couple more on her as she sat on the couch, and now she looked like a head poking out of a pile of blankets. Andi smiled at him, a little amused, but mostly she just looked tired and like all the shine had gone out of her eyes. She shook her head and managed to free her arms from the pile atop her. “Coach, I said I’m fine.”

“Pizza’ll be here in about thirty minutes,” Betty Brant piped up from the kitchen. She’d been kind enough to meet them at Flash’s apartment as soon as they’d gotten back, and though she didn’t know Andi or Mania tremendously well, she still was a good friend to Flash. She’d been the first one he called, after Andi’s aunt of course.

Thanks to Dr. Strange, he’d been immediately alerted the moment a portal opened in Astoria. He barely had time to get his legs on before Strange whisked them both away in a teleportation spell. He owed the sorcerer for this - big time - but he only hoped he would have an opportunity to repay Strange for going out of his way.

Flash pushed a mug of cocoa into his goddaughter’s hands. “There is no way you were only there a week.”

“I don’t think it was even a full week,” she said for the hundredth time.

“Jesus, Andi, it felt like a year! Are you sure you don’t need another-”

“Eugene,” Betty interrupted, “sit. Stop fussing.”

“I’m not-!”

Andi giggled at the use of his given name, and he decided Betty's teasing was worth it. Andi had rarely heard it, and certainly not in the context of someone he’d known for so long. He sighed and sat down next to Andi, pulling her and the blankets closer. She leaned her head against him, and he closed his eyes, just listening to her breathing, worried that if he fell asleep, she might vanish again.

“Flash…”

She pulled away a little and pulled her knees up to her chest. Tendrils leaked out to wrap around her hands, and she toyed with the biomass, a bit of a nervous habit she’d picked up.

“Andi, you don’t have to talk about it, I told you. It can wait. Your safety is more important.”

“No, but Flash, I want to.” She glanced towards Betty with a small frown.

Betty must have caught the look. “You know what we need? Ben and Jerry’s. I’ll be back.”

“Betty, you don’t have to-”

“I used your card for the pizza, you’ll need to sign for it anyways.”

He almost asked if Mania had picked up some manner of telepathic powers, but as soon as Betty had cleared the doorway, Andi blurted out, “Venom was there with me.”

Flash froze. He half-knew this, almost expected it, but hearing her confirm it turned his blood to ice in his veins. He crossed his arms if only because that was the easiest way to stem the way he shook with a myriad of emotions. “You mean…”

“Your Venom. I mean, uh, the one that we know. From here. See there were… there were a bunch of Venoms, or at least decent Klyntar symbiotes, and a bunch of superheroes, but they were all from different universes and it was really weird, but - yeah, I saw… your partner.”

“Is he…” He tapped the knee joint of his prosthesis. “Is he okay?”

Andi chewed her lip. “He’s not, um, I-I don’t know exactly what happened. I think someone hurt him. Not the current host, but-”

“You know? You know who his host is?”

“Yeah, he helped protect me and Mania, but I think there was someone between you and him, I only got a few words with Venom. Something’s wrong. It’s like he’s… backsliding. All the progress you made together, something happened.”

“Oh God,” Flash whispered. He took a deep breath, held it, and let out slowly. Okay. Time to calm down. Andi didn’t sugarcoat things, so if she said Venom was even a little okay, he probably was, right? Right.

When he looked back to her, she seemed… scared. No, not scared; nervous. He immediately pushed thoughts of his partner aside and pulled her into a hug. Okay, so maybe she was almost eighteen, but who the hell knew what life was about at that age? He certainly hadn’t.

Flash gave her a gentle squeeze. “You don’t have to tell me any more if you don’t want to, Andi. I promise. Venom means the world to me, you know that, but he can take care of himself. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

She sniffled against his shoulder and sat back against the couch. Andi didn’t meet his gaze this time. “It’s… um… Brock.”

His mind immediately went to Brock Rumlow, but he wouldn’t have protected her, no-

“Eddie. Brock.”

Flash stared at her. His first instinct was to laugh. The last time he and Eddie Brock had come face to face, he’d been bonded to the Toxin symbiote and trying to kill not so much him as Venom. Granted, that had been almost two full years ago. Venom and Flash had both changed dramatically in that space of time. Could Brock have done the same? To go from cursing Venom’s name to rebonding with the symbiote just seemed… strange.

Beyond even all that, what happened to Toxin? Flash vaguely recalled catching a glimpse on a monitor that Toxin had been recruited into some kind of highly-classified federal operation, shortly after returning from space. But they’d been home for months before getting separated. Why hadn’t Brock tracked them down sooner? Had he been casing them? Why would Venom go back to an old host, rather than to Flash? He knew something had happened between them long ago, something Venom never dwelled on and Flash never pushed the symbiote to reveal.

Or… or maybe Flash just wasn’t the partner he thought he’d been to Venom.

He couldn’t focus on that right now, though. Whatever was going on with Venom could be figured out another time. “You said… they protected you. That’s good. That means Venom probably hasn’t been recorrupted.”

“He wasn’t really all there, though. But he still cared. And he made Eddie care, I think.”

“If you can, try to tell me what happened.”

And - albeit tearfully at times - she did. She went through it all, from getting sucked through the portal in her classroom to finding the other Venoms, befriending the Rider and the younger Wolverine, and then… losing people. One by one. How they were picked off by an enemy they didn’t fully understand; feeling alone until Venom and Eddie came along from the home universe. She’d been reduced to sobs upon telling him about his counterpart getting killed, and he hugged her tighter than ever then, gently shushing her and telling her she didn’t need to go on.

Andi sniffled and shook her head. “N-no, I want to. It helps.”

Just when he’d started to think maybe Eddie really had been looking out for her, she mentioned the one name he never wanted to hear again:

“We were out of options, so Brock had the idea of trying to pull in a Carnage from another-”

“-wait. Brock did what?”

His blood pounded in his ears so hard he almost didn’t catch what she said; just some vague explanation of Carnage being the perfect adversary to the Poisons. He saw nothing of the blanket-wrapped girl next to him; just that monster as he destroyed a whole town with no remorse at all--

“-but in the end, it worked. ...Coach?”

Flash dug his nails into his palms so hard he expected them to bleed. He forced himself to relax and settled for clutching at his thigh. Not the time to lose it. Not now. “Find it hard to believe the others went along with it.”

She wiped her eyes on one of the blankets and laughed a little. “He called it an ‘impossible return’.”

“I’m…” _Going to murder him if he comes within a mile of me._ “...glad he and Venom protected you. Even if that is the worst idea I’ve ever heard in my life.” And I’m going to murder him for it.

“Flash, he had my back over there. More than anyone else. He seems worried about Venom, and that makes at least one thing you have in common.”

“If he’s so worried, maybe he should send Venom back to where he belongs!” Flash finally snapped. “He didn’t even want the symbiote; called him a demon and a plague. What’s so different now, huh? What’s so great about Eddie Brock that-”

“I don’t know, Coach, okay?!” Andi curled up at the end of the couch, staring at him wide-eyed.

He froze. _Jesus, Thompson; you’re starting to act like…_ “I’m sorry, Andi. That was wrong of me. I shouldn’t have gotten upset with you.”

“It’s okay…”

“It’s _not_. Whatever is going on with Venom, I will figure it out, but I can’t expect you to know anything. I’m just glad you’re safe, okay?”

He offered a lopsided smile and spread his arms in offering. After a moment of hesitation, she unwrapped from the blankets and hugged him. Flash sighed. What was he doing, going off on a teenager like that? His own goddaughter, no less? She told him way more than he could have ever hoped or expected.

It sounded like, based on what she told him of her conversation with Venom, that whatever was going on with his partner probably wasn’t because of Brock, but some unknown, third party. Rumor had been going around places like The Bar with No Name (paid to have connections with the likes of someone like Daimon Hellstrom) of a “new Venom”, but hardly anyone had any evidence or more than shaky camera footage that had been almost immediately deleted from the web. He’d dismissed it, but he kept flashing back to that moment on the roof. Seemed that every night when Flash closed his eyes, he only could stare down the barrel of whatever the hell that weapon had been.

The doorbell rang, and he just about jumped out of his skin. Andi put a hand on his arm when he started to get up. “It’s okay, Coach; I got it.” She untangled from the blankets and hurried to answer the door. Flash rested his head on the back of the couch. Eddie fucking Brock. Putting Andi in Carnage’s path of destruction.

It was enough to kill his appetite.

\-----

Andi stayed the night at his apartment, and the three of them had fallen asleep in the middle of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, because there was nothing like a movie about rescuing whales to take your mind off things. He’d carried Andi into the bedroom and laid her down, and must have passed out on the couch shortly thereafter. Betty had thrown a blanket over him before leaving.

He probably didn’t deserve her, but he wouldn’t have traded her friendship for anything.

The next day passed by in a relative blur. Andi’s aunt, Carrie Benton, had hurried up to Manhattan and the three (four) of them managed to set up a meeting with Dr. Hank McCoy. He looked rather worse for wear these days, but after Flash had explained the situation, he’d cleared his schedule and invited them to the Xavier Institute at earliest convenience. The veteran X-Man and Avenger had been Flash’s colleague for a time, and though it had been a few years since they had last worked with each other, no one else in the scientific community could look at symbiotes as objectively. He and Venom had come to McCoy after returning from space, in fact. The two had cleared the air (given, of course, that the one called ‘Beast’ had helped create the serum that kept the symbiote at bay) and parted on good terms. Flash had hoped it would be the start of a valuable allyship.

Nothing ever worked out quite that well, though.

McCoy ushered them into a large room and put himself to work, taking samples from both girl and symbiote. Mania watched from the confines of a tube of some sort of chemical solution - a nutrient bath of some sort, the doctor explained. It would also allow him to monitor the symbiote's vitals outside a host body, as it were. Andi kept passing reassuring glances towards her partner as she jogged on the treadmill.

“How much longer do they have to stay in there?” she asked. After twenty straight minutes, she was sweating, but able to maintain an impressive pace. All things considered, Andi seemed unusually calm.

“Just five more minutes, Andrea.”

“You trust him, Coach?”

Flash and McCoy exchanged a meaningful glance. “Yeah,” he said at last, “with my life.”

Carrie looked on from across the room, looking as flustered as ever. The poor woman seemed that she hadn't slept in days. “She’s going to be all right?” After Andi had succumbed to the Hellmark last year, they’d had no choice but to bring her aunt into the fold. Carrie didn’t fully understand the situation - how could any guardian? - but she thankfully hadn’t sought to separate them. Almost a year had passed since then, and (after glossing over a few minor details) Carrie had decided to ask Flash to be Andi’s godfather. Andi would be eighteen soon, but Flash was still honored that her aunt trusted him that much. He hadn’t told her about Venom. Given the events of the last five months, however, that may have been wise.

He’d zoned out as McCoy explained the situation to her as best he could. Andi hopped off the treadmill as soon as he’d removed the monitors, and moments later, the Mania symbiote flowed out of its container and sank back into its host. Flash caught the look of relief that flashed over his goddaughter’s face before she could hide it away. McCoy tapped through a number of findings on his tablet before finally setting it aside.

“According to my readings, you and the symbiote are both in good health and I see no evidence of cellular degeneration from crossing dimensions.” A frown quirked his rather snout-like mouth. “However, the symbiote has significantly elevated stress levels-”

“Ya think?” Andi muttered.

“Andrea!”

“Sorry, Aunt Carrie.”

McCoy, himself used to the antics of teenagers, just smiled. “Just something to be mindful of. Andrea, your blood pressure is higher than average for your age, and so I recommend getting plenty of exercise and sleep. If you start experiencing severe headaches or nosebleeds, see me again.”

“Wait,” Carrie interrupted, looking at Flash, “I thought symbiotes were supposed to keep their hosts safe.”

He grimaced and looked to McCoy.

“They do, Ms. Benton, but I would discourage your niece from relying on her partner for all her medical needs. It’s been my observation that the harder the symbiote has to work to keep her physiology homeostatic, the higher its own stress levels will be. And I have observed what that can lead to.”

Flash leaned on his cane and turned his gaze to the floor. He didn’t know all the details of what had happened between Brock and Venom all those years ago. Even upon regaining his memories, Venom had hidden most of the details away. They had been working on starting to expose some of those metaphorical skeletons, but when they’d become separated... Flash gave himself a shake. One crisis at a time.

“I get it, ‘doctor’s orders’,” Andi said, a little dismissively. She’d put on a brave face ever since arriving at the Xavier Institute, and he suspected it was to keep her aunt from worrying too much.

Flash cleared his throat. “Carrie, I need to borrow Dr. McCoy for a moment. I’ll meet you guys in the foyer near the entrance.”

“Coach, what’s-”

“Just a quick thing, Andi. Promise.”

Once they had left, he leaned against the exam table and turned to the large tube that had held Mania just minutes before.

“I don’t have Venom anymore.”

McCoy lifted his brow. “That is unfortunate, Eugene. How did this come to pass?”

“I still don’t fully understand that myself,” he said. “But in the other dimension, Andi and Mania saw him, and they say he’s hurt...”

Flash went through explaining exactly how he’d lost the symbiote, how they’d searched for days and come up with nothing, until the time when Mania could no longer feel its sibling. McCoy just listened until Flash just about broke down telling him that Venom had apparently rebonded to Eddie Brock.

“...the guy’s a ghost, Doc. How am I supposed to find him? I need my partner. I at least need to be sure he’s okay.”

“Our resources are, at current, rather limited, and for that I apologize.” McCoy frowned sympathetically. “But I will keep your predicament in mind. And please contact me if you start experiencing any severe withdrawal symptoms. You and your symbiote had an unusually tight bond and we don’t yet know what that entails if that bond is broken.”

“Will do.” He stuck a hand out, and found strength in the mutant’s clawed grip as they shook hands. “Thanks for everything, Doctor. Maybe once the world stops falling apart around us, we’ll be able to get together for coffee.”

“Your lips to to universe’s ear, Eugene. Take care.”

\-----

After leaving the Institute, the three of them stopped at the Silver Spoon for a quick lunch and a large slice of chocolate cake. Nobody was especially hungry, but Andi looked better after food and a day of relative normalcy.

They went to the apartment just for a few minutes to exchange goodbyes. Carrie was taking Andi back to Philadelphia until the weekend, when she would come back to New York. Flash almost argued against it, but at the same time, he knew that he wouldn’t much better at protecting his protege. Besides, she’d again missed a large chunk of school, and was at this point looking at not graduating until the summer.

Before they took off, Andi pulled Flash aside while her aunt had excused herself to make a phone call. “Flash… I, um, might have suggested to Eddie that he seek you out.” When he lifted his eyebrows, she immediately continued, “Just because you care about Venom. He probably won’t, but whatever’s happened to your partner, he probably needs all the help he can get.” Andi quirked a smile. “I think, deep down, he’s still a hero, and they really _did_ try their best.”

Flash sighed. What could he say to that? _No, kid, I think that’s crazy and I’ve got no reason to trust him._ People changed, though. And Eddie Brock had surprised him before.

When they hugged goodbye, he squeezed her as tight as he dared and felt tendrils wrap around his arms. The loneliness struck him once again at the innocent gesture. “Take care of each other, okay?”

“We will,” she promised, and he opened the door for them.

Carrie paused on the way out. “Flash... I really can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for Andi. For both of us.”

“I’m just glad she’s all right.” He raised his voice a little. “Keep in touch, kiddo. Don’t hesitate to Skype me any time, okay?”

“You got it, Coach!”

And with that, they were gone, leaving Flash alone with his thoughts.

\-----

The rest of the day passed as normal. He spent a good couple hours in the gym that day, hoping to sweat out the stress and get himself back to some kind of routine. No matter how hard he tried, though, he couldn’t stop the images from flashing across his mind - Venom fleeing across the rooftop; so hurt and angry and _scared_. Flash was happier more than anything that Andi was safe, yet he couldn’t help but feel that he should’ve been the one navigating that hellscape with her.

Brock wasn’t a threat to kids. In fact, it was the one thing that had kept him and Toxin from utterly destroying Flash and Venom years ago. And he had to admit - Flash didn’t know every person on-planet who had hosted Venom, but Brock probably seemed like one of the better choices.

Just as Flash started to take off one of his prostheses, something prickled the back of his neck. He snapped his head up and stared at the door. He reached out blindly for his cane to push himself to his feet. He grasped it, white-knuckled as the sensation increased.

_Knock-knock._

It came quietly. Flash took a tentative step towards the door. “Who is it?”

 _Knock-knock-knock,_ louder this time.

He buried his hopes and fears because he knew that feeling, but what if he was wrong? “Coming, I’m coming,” he called. His heart pounded in his ears. Flash stopped at the door and glanced out the peephole.

He drew in a sharp breath and had to steady himself. Now was not the time to be overly emotional. He closed his eyes and turned the deadbolt. This might be the biggest mistake… or his only chance at getting one of the most important individuals in his life back. He clenched a fist and fought with the decision.

No turning back. Only moving forward.

Flash turned the doorknob and pulled the door open to face his visitor. His whole body felt like an electrical current had just coursed through it. The man before him, six-foot-three and probably 250 pounds, looked surprised that the door had opened. After a moment he composed himself and crossed his arms over his massive chest.

“Thompson, we need to talk.”


End file.
